From the Director

What I am excited about this week!
 
Weekend Use of Campus! I am thrilled to announce that we will be opening the campus for limited use by the AISL community during weekends, beginning on 24-25 April. AISL community members are welcome to use the Primary School track and field, the covered court, the Primary School pool, and the tennis courts near the school’s exit gate. Please note the following:

• All visitors will be asked to sign in to confirm that they are aware of, and agree to abide by, our COVID-19 mitigation measures. Temperatures must be checked and hands sanitized upon entry. Masks must be worn at all times except during strenuous aerobic activity (e.g. running on the track) and a 1.5 meter distance must be maintained at all times between individuals except those within the same household (e.g. no basketball nor soccer games).
• Campus access is only open to AISL parents, staff, and students, as well as other members of their families.
• Children must have a parent with them at all times.  Parents may not drop off children and leave except in cases where the students are participating in planned school-sponsored events. Please note that we are not providing supervision during campus access hours; supervision will be the responsibility of the parents.
• School-sponsored events take precedence in all venues. If a school event is taking place, please move to another venue.
• We reserve the right to limit entry if the number of visitors on campus becomes a safety concern. If regular visitor numbers get too high, we may have to move to an advanced sign-up process. Although I would like to avoid that, we will review this regularly and communicate any changes in the Leopard’s Tale.  
• The campus use hours will be Saturdays and Sundays from 08:00-18:00, with the following exceptions:
  • The tennis courts near the exit gate will be available for community use on Saturdays from 13:00-18:00 and Sundays from 11:00-18:00. As before, they will be controlled by a sign-up board located on the court. Sign-ups on the board can only be done on the same day of the planned usage.
  • The Primary School Pool will be available from 10:00-18:00 on Saturdays and from 08:00-18:00 on Sundays. Please note that all swimming is at one’s own risk. There are no lifeguards on duty. Please do not swim alone and use common sense in the pool area. Children may not be in the pool area without a supervising adult who has the skills to respond in an emergency.

 
I appreciate your patience with the rules and restrictions noted above as we try to balance campus use with our health and safety obligations.
 
I look forward to seeing you on campus!
 

ISSEA End-of-the-Year Extravaganza! The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant damper to our typical robust ISSEA schedule. For those who are new to the school, AISL is a member of the International Schools of Southern and Eastern Africa (ISSEA), which is a league of eight international schools who regularly collaborate on sporting and cultural events for our students. In a typical year, ISSEA holds more than a dozen events, each hosted by one of the eight schools. These events provide an opportunity for our students to make friends with peers at the American International School of Johannesburg, the International School of Kenya, the International School of Uganda, the American International School of Mozambique, Harare International School, the International School of Tanganyika, and the International Community School of Addis Ababa. Despite having no in-person events this year, we did not want to let the year end without celebrating the importance of ISSEA to all our schools. So, on Friday, 23 April at 09:00, our secondary school students will be joining students across the league in an online celebration of ISSEA. All members of the AISL community are welcome to view the celebration. Just click here.

WorldFest! We are excited to be holding our annual WorldFest! on Thursday, 29 April. Although COVID-19 has forced us to reduce the scale of the event, we remain as committed as ever to celebrating the wonderful diversity of the AISL community. The day will include a (socially-distanced) flag parade, a virtual assembly, various cultural activities, and the always popular International Food Festival. This year’s food festival will be organized by parents at each grade level. If you are willing to prepare and share a food item from your country, please contact your PTA liaison and get involved. Please also encourage your child to wear national clothing or colors on the 29th.
 
Vaccines in Zambia! The arrival of the first shipment of vaccines to Zambia was a welcome development last week. Since school staff members are a priority group in Zambia, we have been working with the Bauleni Clinic to secure opportunities for our team to receive their first doses. Many thanks to Sonia Old and Jennifer Anuncasion for coordinating this effort. Since vaccination rates in Zambia are likely to remain very low for the near future, it is worth remembering that, as exciting as this first step is, we do not anticipate any significant relaxation of our stringent health and safety measures.
 
Next PTA Quiz Night on 28 April! It was great to restart the quiz last week with four very good teams. The competition was close and after the final round the scores for two teams were tied at 55 points. After a tie break question (How many words are in the complete works of Shakespeare?) the Quizzerly Bears just pipped our previous winners, S Quad Squad, to the prize. Please join us for the next PTA Quiz Night at 18:30 on 28 April.  Entry is K5o per team member with up to four people per team. Teams may bring their own food and drink.  Due to COVID-19 restrictions, space is limited and advance sign-up is required. Please sign up here and be sure to enter the names of each team member plus your team name.